The bid for another major component of the summer projects to be done at the three local school buildings – the ventilation work, which is a huge part of the work to be undertaken at Highland School, specifically – has come in and it's on target, the Crookston School Board learned at a special meeting Monday.

On the heels of the roofing bid that was around $200,000 under the estimate, the ventilation bid brings the amount of work on tap for this summer that's been awarded to around 80 percent, Superintendent Chris Bates told the Times, and so far everything is essentially where it's supposed to be. There are around $2 million worth of smaller-scale projects remaining to be bid, and the superintendent said he's hoping that some local contractors get bid on some of that work.

It's a stressful time, Bates said, because some other school districts who have recently bid out similar repair, maintenance and improvement projects have received bids over projections. He attributes the positive results so far in Crookston to the possible fact that the economy is chugging along, contractors know it's a competitive environment, so they submit competitive bids.

No bids came in for the window replacement project at Highland School, so Johnson Controls, the contractor coordinating the process, will put the project out for bids a second time on April 15.

Around $6 million of the work is being done in the wake of a majority of district voters last November approving the issuance of the bonds necessary to make it happen. Other portions of the work can be done with types of bonds that, according to statute, don’t require voter approval first.